Guide devices are known, for example, from German Patent 25 23 835, in which the guide device is inserted between the outlets of the shunts and the corresponding stack containers. This known guide device consists of a slide having a curved deflection surface and a curved support surface intersecting each other essentially at right angles. A portion of the curved deflection surface adjoins the shunt, and is inclined in a plane defined by the pieces of mail exiting the shunt. The deflection curved surface further has a lower edge forming an acute angle relative to the horizontal, the vertex of which faces a prior guide device in the direction of conveyance.
The curved support surface has an upper portion adjoining a supporting surface of the conveying arrangement, and has a profile corresponding to a drop curve of a piece of mail occurring on the curved deflection surface, so that during the deflection of the piece of mail, a lower edge of the piece of mail remains in contact with the curved support surface.
With the known guide device, there is a danger that the pieces of mail will not be slowed down sufficiently in the guide device and thus the mail will be pushed beyond an outer edge of the curved deflection surface. Further, there is a possibility that the pieces of mail will overturn during the deflection and slow-down process, especially at high transport speeds of the conveyor arrangement and with large pieces of mail. Additionally, there is a possibility that the mail will be folded over an upper support edge of the guide device, particularly with light pieces of mail of large size which stand on their short edge.